RE: [compost_tea] Re: Compost teas in tree fruit production

From: Judi Stewart <js_at_olympus.net>
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 08:41:46 -0700

Steve,
 
The comments on the successes some North Olympic Fruit Club
members have had over time have been sprinkled on this list.
Several members now have their own brewers. We have not
done any studies. Members grow apple, European pear, Asian pear,
cherry,
plum, kiwi, fig, chestnut, walnut, filbert, Shipova, apricot, blueberry,
strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, persimmon and more, in addition
to ornamentals, flowers and vegetables.
 
In comparison to previous years where they had never used
compost tea, members report having healthier trees. Leaves are larger,
shiny,
more colorful; fruit is larger and they say sweeter. Scab has been
greatly reduced
or totally eliminated. Slug pressure has also been reduced.
 
In my own experience with young pear trees, I had pear blister mite
which
spread from one tree to the other and the trees on semi-dwarf rootstock
bore no fruit through the fifth and sixth leaf. I was told to use
lime-sulfur sprays and dormant oil before the leaves dropped. I didn't
and only used mulch and compost tea as a soil drench and foliar spray
throughout the growing season. Infected leaves were removed and that
alone was an all day exercise which left the trees practically naked.
 
This year the pears I now have are clean and are a good size. There
remains some minor leaf damage, less than 2%. I expect a larger crop
next year and I'm grateful I didn't lose a tree. I cannot definitively
say that this is the result of using compost tea because I have used no
controls. Hobby orchardists will not easily sacrifice their
fruit trees. The only pest problem I do have at the moment is the pear
or cherry slug or saw fly.
 
I'll be showing my fruit along with other members of the Club in two
weeks on Saturday, October 23rd, at our fall fruit show. It's the
largest fruit show in the Puget Sound region: www.wcfs.org
<http://www.wcfs.org/> .
 
Judi
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: dakesian1 [mailto:dakesian_at_sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 4:23 AM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: [compost_tea] Re: Compost teas in tree fruit production
 
 
 
I don't have any data because I'm a backyard gardener.
 
I've been using compost tea for 3 years on apple, pear, peach and
plum trees. I've had no disease problems and stopped using Captan.
The compost tea did nothing to reduce the dreaded plum curculio pest
we here in Michigan.
 
Also, the ACT appears to provide some organic food for the trees.
 
--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Steve Diver" <steved_at_n...>
wrote:
>
> Anybody have research data or case studies on use of
> compost teas in tree fruit production?
>
> Compost tea infuence on growth, yield, and
> disease control would be of special interest.
>
> Steve Diver
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Received on Sun Oct 10 2004 - 15:04:59 EDT

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